Aeroplane



D. AMICI.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14. I919- 1,358,915. Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

a/ J /p /0 a 42 5 WM n 1 i MW H! u i m" E 7 I 7f INVENTOR ATTORNEY D. AMICI.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION men APR. 14. 1919.

1,358,915. Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

D. AMICI.

\ AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED APR-H.191!)- 1335859 1 5 Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

s SHEETSSHEET a. 2/

Ill VE IV TOR UNITED STATES at r.

DOMENICO AMICI, OF POOL, COLORADO.

AEROPLAN E.

Application filed April 14,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DOMENICO Armor, 2. subject of the King of Italy, residing at Pool, in the county of Routt and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention is directed to improvements in aeroplanes, and has for its primary object to provide a device of this character so constructed that the wings thereof may be folded rearwardly at the will of the pilot.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a device of this character constructed in such manner that the power from the propelling motor may be utilized for folding the wings rearwardly, and for returning the same to their normal or flying position, as desired.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an aeroplane having its wing frames so constructed that the longitudinal bars thereof will approach each other as the frames are folded rearwardly, thereby reducing the wing area to permit the machine to pass between restricted spaces, as for instance between trees, buildings, or other ob jects, and further to permit a number of the machines to be stored in a hangar.

WVith these and other objects in view, this invention resides in the novel features of construction, formation, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the machine showing the left hand upper plane broken away to more clearly illustrate the arrangement of the lower plane, and the wings in their unfolded or normal position.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same, showing the wings in their folded position.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the machine.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 of Fi 1.

fteferring to the drawings 1 designates the fuselage, which may be'of any well known form, and associated therewith is the usual motor 2, the shaft 3 of which extends Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

1919. Serial No. 289,888.

rearwardly and has fixed thereto a friction disk 4, the purpose of which will appear later.

The wings 5 consist of upper and lower frames 6 and 7, and comprise front and rear bars 8 and 9, respectively, which are held in proper spaced relation by transverse bars 10, the respective ends of which are pivotally connected to the bars 8 and 9. The fuselage 1 has fixed transversely thereof upper and lower bars 10 and 11, the ends of which serve as bearings for the vertical pivot rods 12 and 13. The bars 8 and 9 have extended ends 14, and since said bars are pivotally connected to the upper ends of the rods 12 and 13 it is obvious that when strain is applied to said ends the frames 6 and 7 may be folded or unfolded, as desired.

Extending longitudinally of the fuselage l, and slidable on the bars 10 and 11 is a bar 15, the forward end of which is formed with a rack 16, the purpose of which will later appear.

To the extended ends 14 of the bars 8 and 9 of the upper frames 6 are pivotally connected rods 17, and pivotally connected to the rear ends thereof are the forward ends of the links 18, said links being disposed in converging relation and having their rear ends pivotally connected to the rear end of the bar 15, as at 19.

A vertical shaft 20 is suitably supported on the fuselage 1, and has fixed to its upper end a pinion 21 which meshes with the rack 16. Slidably keyed on the shaft 20 is a collar 22, which may be shifted vertically through the medium of the hand lever 23, said lever being in convenient reach of the pilot occupying the seat 24. Fixed to the upper end of the collar 22 is a friction disk 25 having a bevel gear 25, while fixed to the lower end of the collar is a friction disk 26. The disk 4 carried by the motor shaft 3 is located between said disks, and is normally out of contact therewith, but may be readily moved into frictional engagement with either one upon operating the lever 23. Thus it will be seen that either disk may be moved into engagement with the disk 4, thus imparting rotary movement to the shaft 20 through the medium of the pinion 21 and rack 16. In this manner the bar 15 may be shifted in a direction to fold or unfold the wings 5. When the motor 2 is running the shaft 3 thereof will rotate the disk 4, and if the disk is engaged with the disk 26 the shaft 20 will be rotated anticlockwise, and through the medium of the pinion 21 and rack 16 cause the bar 15 to slide forwardly. of course when the disk *1 is engaged with the disk 25 the movement of the associated parts will be reversed.

The bars 9 of the frames (3 and 7 have associated therewith rails 27, which form in conjunction with said bars tracks for en gagement with the grooves of the wheels 28, any number of which may be employed. The wheels 28 have rivet axles 29, as shown clearly in Fig.

The frames (5 and 7 are each provided with planes 30 and 31, respectively, preferably of canvas. but it will be of course understood that any other suitable material may be used. These planes have their forward edges suitably secured to the bars 8 of each frame, while their rear edges are attached to the axles 29 of the wheels 28. Since the wheels 28 are adapted to roll on the bars 9 and rails 27 the planes 30 and 31 will be permitted to fold neatly when the frames are folded or unfolded. These wheels also serve to connect the rear edges of the planes with the respective frames, and hold the planes tightly stretched when the wings are in their unfolded or operative positions.

As shown in Fig. 1 the wings 5 are in their unfolded or normal position, and at which time the planes 30 and 31 are stretched tightly. When it is desired to fold the wings the disk 26 is shifted upwardly until it contacts with the disk at, which being driven by the motor shaft 3 imparts rotary movement to the shaft 20 and pinion 9.1. The pinion 21 then causes the rack 16 to draw the bar 15 forwardly, whereupon the links 18 push the rods 17 correspondingly. Since the rods 17 are pivotally connected to the extended ends 14 of the uppermost bars 8 and 9 it is obvious that said bars will swing on the pivot rods 12 and 13, thereby compelling the bars to swing inwardly and toward each other until the wings 5 are folded substantially in parallel relation with re spect to the fuselage, as shown in Fig. 2. To unfold the wings it is only necessary to shift disk 25 into contact with the disk l, whereupon the movement of the bar 15 is reversed and the bars 8 and 9 swing outwardly on the pivot rods 12 and 13 until the wings are in the desired position.

To look the wings 5 in their normal position a spring pressed latch 32 is provided, the same being pivotally mounted on the bar 15, and has its bill 33 adapted to detachably engage the slot 34: formed in the transverse bar 11, as shown in Fig. 6. A cord or chain 35 is fixed to the latch, and can be pulled by the pilot just previous to the folding of the wings to cause the bill 33 to disengage the slot 34. lVhen the wings are unfolded the bill 33 will snap into engagement with the slot 3%, thereby preventing accidental folding of the wings.

Suitably mounted on the fuselage 1 is a crank shaft 35, having associated therewith a bevel gear 36. Upon sliding the crank shaft forwardly to the position as shown in Fig. 2 the gear 36 will mesh with the similar gear 25 carried by the disk 25, whereupon rotation of the shaft will. cause the shaft 20 to rotate to fold or unfold the wings 5. Thus it will be apparent that the wings may be folded or unfolded at times when the motor is not in operation.

The fuselage is provided with the usual running wheels 37, and is further provided with a supplemental frame 38 upon its forward end which supports a rigid plane 39, said plane being disposed between the inner ends of the main wings 5, and is disposed slightly above the plane thereof.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation and many advantages of the herein described invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without further description, and it will be understood that various changes in size, shape, proportion and minor details of construction,may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an aeroplane, the combination with the fuselage, of a pair of wings comprising upper and lower longitudinal bars which are pivotally connected with the fuselage, certain of the bars having extended ends, rods pivotally connecting said ends beyond their pivotal connection, links pivotally connected with the rods, a rack bar having its rear end pivotally connected to the links, a pinion meshing with the rack bar, a propolling motor, and means connecting the motor and pinion to rotate the same, thereby shifting the rack bar to fold or unfold the wing frames.

2. In an aeroplane, the combination with the fuselage, of a pair of wings including front and rearbars, rails associated with said rear bars, fabric planes having their forward edges fixed to the front bars and their rear edges slidably associated with the rails and rear bars, and means for moving the bars toward and away from each other.

3. In an aeroplane, the combination with the fuselage, of a pair of wings arranged one above the other and consisting of upper and lower frames including front and rear bars, rails associated with the rear bars, wheels movable on the rails and bars, fabric planes having their forward edges secured to the front bars, and their rear edges connected with the wheels, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In an aeroplane, the combination with i i" in the fuselage, of a pair of wings comprising upper and lower frames including front and rear bars, said bars being pivotally connected with the fuselage, the front and rear bars of the upper frames having extended ends, rods pivotally connected to said ends, a rack bar, links pivotally connecting the rack bar and rods, a shaft supported on the fuselage, and having a pinion fixed thereto adapted to mesh with the rack bar, a friction disk operated by the propelling motor, and means s1idmy hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

DOMENICO AMICI.

Witnesses:

NICK GALANKKES, MELTON WILLIAMS. 

